Author:
Whispering Hope
Summary:
Someone contemplates on the difference between father and son.
Possible shounen-ai, if you squint.
Dedication:
Tiara-chan, at DarkIllusions - because it's her birthday! Soon, anyway.
Shameless Promotion: Go read my other HP fanfiction – The Boy Next Door.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story, but the quote.
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I have always been watching him the moment he came into the school, announcing his presence with a huge bang – jokes, jokes and even more jokes. It was only Sirius and James who would do jokes on their first day of school. Who else would be so familiar with the school to know secret passages, I had wondered as I watch them. Sirius Black, with a love for jokes, had not thrown the white flag in when James changed all the Slytherin flags to red, the colour for his house and had decided to compete with James.
I ended up with golden hair for the rest of the day.
I had to admit that school was amusing with them; everyday brought me a new awe as I watched them do countless pranks through the use of magical items, without doing spells from their wands. In their second year, Sirius grew closer to Remus Lupin, who had usually stayed very quiet during classes; the both of them soon became good friend.
Yet again, I was caught surprised as the three of them welcomed Peter Pettigrew into their little gang, and the Marauders soon wrecked havoc upon the Slytherins and teachers in the school. I was no exception, but pranks only turned up every one month or so, as if I was just something for them to prank when they were bored.
I didn't mind. It was amusing to see my beard change colour over and over again.
But I loved watching most, was how James flew. He changed direction of the broom easily, and he was the best player I had ever since thus far. Not even the players in my days could have compared to him. Not even his own father flew as smoothly as he did. For him, flying on the broom was like a second nature he never lived in, and cherished deeply.
Though I sat on the stands and watch the matches, and never as near as the players in the sky, when he flew – I saw delight and joy as he played to his very best and beyond. He might have been arrogant, but he was loyal, and he enjoyed his life as much as he could.
When Sirius told me years later that James had been a stag, I had been a little surprised. I would have thought he was a flying creature, instead of one that ran. But the stag ran free and unbounded, like an eagle in its sky.
The eagle and the lily married, and they produced a crow.
Severus' words fell harshly upon the married couple as he saw the messy black hair that had once belonged to The-Boy-Who-Lived when he had been a child. Sirius had rose to defend his godson; Remus tried to stop an argument; Lily was trying to pull James back but Peter was not there to see the whole scene.
And I was there, watching. Only watching.
-
And now, many years from the past, and into the present, I watch Harry as he plays against Slytherin. I doubt he knows that I'm watching, then again, I can be invisible as and when I want without a cloak. This is one of the times I choose to be, but Severus probably knows. He knows how I like to watch Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived.
His green eyes are concentrated as he tries to find the Snitch, as his team members around him try to score and defend. Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, watches Harry closely as he looks around as well. These are two seekers who will never be replaced by any one, for Hogwarts has never seen two playing so well against each other.
Lucius had never been one to play, but he often competed against James on a one-on-one Snitch match whenever they had an argument they wanted to settle. Though they looked unfriendly on the outside, inside they were two boys forced to live up to their family names the hatred against each other. If the both of them had been allies, things would have been different.
Very different, I think as I study both Draco and Harry.
Harry dives. I think he has seen the Snitch. Draco's face showed shock as he quickly chases Harry on his broom, forcing the broom to go harder and faster, as the crowd cheers both boys on, houses for houses. The seekers' names are called amongst the cheering but it makes them all the more strive harder.
Harry pulls up suddenly, and Draco nearly hits the ground face-first. The Slytherin crowd showers the green-eyed boy in shouts of anger but he only smirks at Draco, who throws him a glare.
The same glare Lucius often gave James, but these two boys… are not like their father. I know, because they are and were once my students. Draco might have looked like his father, but Draco will never be the man Lucius is and was. Harry is a "crow", so described by Severus, unlike James being an "eagle".
I laugh softly to myself.
Severus glares at me, as if to ask me what I was laughing about.
"Harry might be a crow, Severus. But though a crow will never understand an eagle or fly like an eagle," I say, gesturing to Harry as he dives again.
Draco tries to follow.
"But a crow…"
Harry flies higher, holding his hand up.
"A crow had its own way of flying and living."
The snitch glitters a bright gold under the sun.
-Owari-
Footnotes: I have adored the line about the eagle and crow ever since I played this game, but the whole "a crow has its own way…" is somewhat my own idea, 'cause I don't see it anywhere at all.
Please comment.
edit So many errors! I changed "stag" to "eagle". And a second part might come out soon.